No place for the technophobe

If you try to cross a horse with a sheep you'll not get very far. Even allowing for human intervention in the conception process, the resulting ebryo is completely unstable and dies very quickly.  

Crossing two different plant genera carries pretty much the same result, but modern laboratory technology does give the possibility of 'embyo rescue'. This is the process whereby genetic material from a recently fertilised 'seed embyo' can be isolated and developed outside of the seedpod, where left to its own devices it would have died.  

Sandersonia aurantiaca. Will there ever be a red one?

This process is unsurprisingly costly, with low success rates, but if you are an avid plant breeder still worth a shot!  

Challenging Mother Nature it certainly is, but She will always have the last word as to weather the resulting plants will survive, and there needs to be a certain amount of compatibility between the parents in order to have a chance. At the moment, only plants from the same family can be considered for the process.   

Embryo rescue is therefore the method being employed to cross Liliums with Gloriosa, and to try to create the first red-flowered Sandersonia.  

These young plants are the result of cross-genera breeding between Lilium and Gloriosa.

About 25 plants from thousands of attempts at the Lilium-Gloriosa cross are currently in their first year of existence. Initial observations are that their leaves are indeed different to both genera. Reinier is very excited, but will have to wait another year to discover what kind of flowers will be produced - if any. In the meantime he has to consider how to overwinter the plants when they go dormant, as Lilies prefer to be frozen and Gloriosa don't!    

The traditional approach

On a slightly more traditional note, Reinier and his son have an extensive Peaonia crossing program going on, even if their storage methods are somewhat unconventional.  

Lucky for Paeonia fans that hair gel has been very popular the last few years among Dutch teenage boys! Each jar contains pollen from a different variety.

Pollen from many varieties can be stored in empty hair-gel jars for up to a year, ready to be used on fresh new flowers the following season before the bees have got to them.  

But even with his own disregard for the boundaries, Reinier is teaching his son that certain types of Paeonia are more compatible together than others.